Ep. 116: Purpose First: Amplifying Your Impact for More Income with Floyd Jones
EPISODE 116
Purpose First: Amplifying Your Impact for More Income with Floyd Jones
About the Episode:
Speaker, coach, and community builder, Floyd Jones, is with us today! As the Founder of BackBlack, a platform that has raised over one million dollars for Black-led nonprofits. Floyd is incredibly energizing and in this episode, he will challenge you to think bigger and believe more in the power of your organization, no matter how small. Floyd shares his own journey of overcoming self-doubt to build incredible partnerships and impact.
Topics:
Unlocking Your Potential: The power of leveraging what you already have, believing in yourself, and attracting the right support to reach the next level of success.
Overcoming the fear of being a beginner, of starting something new, of failing publicly to breakthrough to success
End-of-Year Strategy Focus for Small and Midsize Nonprofits: Key areas nonprofits should prioritize as they develop impactful end-of-year plans.
Floyd’s 4 Cs for Donorship Growth: How Floyd’s framework can exponentially increase your donor engagement and retention.
What it means to build and engage with a community, focus on relationships, and make it mutually beneficial for all
How Floyd is challenging the idea that “giving is down” and how he’s raised $1.2 million dollars for over 700 nonprofits will full court press campaigns
Letting Go of Fundraising Anxiety: Why detaching from the outcome of your fundraiser is crucial, especially when nerves are high during outreach efforts.
Outside of the box ideas to be more collaborative to create more partnerships that get you closer to your sponsorship and funding goals
Think you’ve reached out to “everyone” in your network? Out of ideas to get noticed and get funded? Generate leads for your nonprofit or social impact business: https://www.splendidcourses.com/prospect
Christina’s Favorite Takeaways:
“Take what you have and go to the next level. You have what you have.” – Floyd
“Say yes to yourself, because when you say yes, watch what happens when the world says yes, too.” – Floyd
“It’s scary because it’s new, not because you’re incapable.” – Floyd
“If you are willing to hear a lot of no's, if you are willing to feel embarrassed, if you are willing to feel nervous and all those negative emotions, you are going to make a ton of money.” – Christina
“People are your partners, not your piggy banks.” – Floyd
“I want you to focus on getting your people to be a higher version of themselves because if they are a higher version of themselves, and they are more invested in you at a higher level, that is what is going to lead you to the next level.” – Floyd
“I truly believe life wants to give you everything. It wants to give you everything you’re meant for.” – Floyd
“A one time donation is good, but there are just so many other pathways of engagement. Become a fundraiser, become a recurring giver, become a long term donor.” – Floyd
“Alignment determines assignment.” – Floyd
“I’m not stuck unless I stop. ”
About Floyd:
Floyd Jones is a speaker, coach, and community builder based in NYC. He is the founder of BackBlack, a platform that has raised over $1.3M for 770 Black-led nonprofits. As the Director of Community & Partnerships at Givebutter, Floyd helped grow the fundraising platform that now powers over $2B in donations annually. Throughout his career, he has raised over $40M for grassroots organizations and continues to support nonprofits, creators, and purpose-driven companies in scaling their community-led growth strategies.
Connect with Floyd:
Episode Resources:
FREE Resources from Splendid Consulting:
How to Work with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
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Christina Edwards 03:28
You guys, we have a special guest, and you can see, I'm not in my usual office today. We're here with the one and only. Floyd Jones, welcome, Floyd. I'm so excited to have you here in Atlanta. Welcome to the podcast. Before we dig in to so many good topics, I want you to introduce yourself to the like one person who may not know you yet in our world.
Floyd Jones 04:00
Hello. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me. We're live in, living color, in the studio, doing all the things. Yes, well, my name is Floyd Jones. I am a speaker, I'm a coach, I'm a community builder. I'm based out of NYC, and I just have a heart for purpose driven leaders, right? I love helping organizations build sustainable communities so they can take their mission and really turn it into a movement. I'm also the founder of an organization called back black, where we help fund and enhance capacity for Black. LED black benefiting nonprofits. To date, we've raised almost $2 million for nearly 1000 black LED nonprofits, and we're continuing to go strong, amazing.
Christina Edwards 04:45
I am so happy for this conversation. We're going to dig in to what you're working on, but first, you and I get along so well, because I feel like you bring the energy, you bring the energy, you bring the energy to the people. We don't do boring around here. No, so. So lead us with a spicy take on anything in the nonprofit world. This could be about my nonprofits. This could be on the donor side. This could be on the org side. Give me a hot take.
Floyd Jones 05:10
A hot take is you? This is just comes to me, but you are bigger than you think you are. You are bigger than you think you are. I work with so many organizations, so many grassroots organizations. I have a heart for grassroots organizations, and the thing that I want them to know is that you are bigger than you think you are. So many organizations say that company's not going to sponsor me, or that major donors are going to come in and get involved. And I'm like, why? Yeah, why not? You have something to you that nobody else has. You have a calling on you that nobody else has you can reach your community in a way that nobody else can right. And so I want people to understand, and I want them to know that you are special, you are powerful, you are needed, you are necessary, and you have power. And I want you to put that power and activate it into purpose. And that's that's why I'm here amazing
Christina Edwards 06:02
already talking about purpose and power. We love it, and that's why you're here today. Because we have a lot of small organizations who are sitting here going, but it's just me, but it's just me and
Floyd Jones 06:13
you is all you need, at least, to get started. It's just you. Yes, come on now and take what you have and go to the next level. Yes, take what you have and go to the next level. So many people think that, Oh, I'm not like the organization down the street, or I'm not like that organization doing that, or I'm not on social media like they are. I don't have that donor that they have. You have what you have. I was listening to the Mel Robbins podcast the other day, isn't she the best and and she was talking about that. She had this metaphor. She was with Sarah Jakes Roberts, and had this metaphor of using what is in your pantry, like use the ingredients that are in your pantry Well, organization, person, if you're listening to this, what is in your pantry, what's in your heart, what's in your hand, right? You have everything that you need to go to the next level. I'm from a small town in Maryland, okay, I'm from a very small town, very country. Love Mount Airy. Okay, gotta represent, but it was very small. There was nothing that said I'm gonna go and live in New York. There's nothing that said I'm gonna start my own business. There's nothing that was gonna say I'm gonna run with and work with Visa and NBA, 2k and Whole Foods and Nike and all these amazing global brands. But I said it, yep. I believed it. I said yes, and I want you, if you're listening to this, say yes to yourself. Say yes, because when you say yes, watch when the world says yes to you.
Christina Edwards 07:30
Oh, we were just talking about this in my coaching program yesterday. I had this, like, drawing of a magnet, and I was like, when you are moving towards something, a goal, you look at past history and you have no proof that you've done it before, right? You're like, I don't I literally have a bunch of no history to look forward that I'm gonna do this. You just have whatever you've been doing, right? When a baby learns how to walk, there's no past history. You can run, right? But you just keep going. You're like, I'm on walk. I'm gonna run, I'm gonna go. And when you go into that stage of like, claiming it and belief, people are attracted to that, right and it, people are literally like, I want to help him. And help can be funding. Help can be volunteerism. Help can be a social share. Help comes in so many different ways. And believe it or not, you tell me you were shy. Is this true?
Floyd Jones 08:21
Oh my God, it was so, it's so it was so true. It was so true. I remember, I'm also a performer. I'm a musician. And I remember back in the day, I would literally get so much social anxiety before going on stage. Like one time, I almost passed out. People literally were like, bringing water to me, because I was like, I can't breathe. So what do now, and I was really stuck in the what are people gonna think about me? Or what if I mess up? What does that say about me? And when I was a child or young, I didn't know that. But through, you know, therapy, coaching, all the different things I can look back and Hindsight is 2020, you know what I mean. But I think to a certain extent, we all have that, in a way, especially when you're doing something new. You know what I mean? Like, we have like that. I was thinking about the whole, you know, zone of genius, zone of competence and all that different stuff. If you're doing something new, you haven't built up those muscles. That's right, right? But I heard a quote that says, it's scary because it's new and not familiar, not because you're incapable. Oh, that's good. And I said, Ooh, that like, yes. And I remember that everything that I've done, that I've succeeded in, I didn't just automatically succeed right away. You know what I mean, one of my favorite affirmations is you are allowed to be a beginner. You're allowed to be a beginner because you're not going to be a beginner forever. You know what I mean? You have to start so you can get to that place of competence, right? And we are so afraid of starting publicly, and we're so afraid of failing publicly and falling publicly. You know what I mean? Totally that's when you have your community, because your community is there to catch you. I talk to
Christina Edwards 09:54
my clients a lot about this idea of like, if you are willing to hear a lot of no's, yeah. You are willing to feel embarrassed, if you're willing to feel nervous and all those negative emotions, you're gonna make a ton of money, yes, like a ton. And so it's just going towards it. And then I think it's the practice of the self talk of like, so that it's not so like polarizing and stifling to what you're trying to do. One of
Floyd Jones 10:19
the things I always say is, I'm here to help you amplify your impact, and then it will increase your income, right? Because it comes with the impact first, when you can step into your power. I always say, purpose first, right? And people first, and then the profit will come, that's relationships first, and then the revenue will come, right, build and go deep first. And I promise you that, well, is gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna open up.
Christina Edwards 10:43
Okay, let's move into fall fundraising. Let's do it so you know, this is our Super Bowl time. These are the most important few months of the year. Have donor expectations changed? Have the trends changed? What should small shops, mid sized shops really look at as they're mapping out their year end structure. Yes,
Floyd Jones 11:04
well, I always say, like, one of the things that I've been really working on and really helping organizations to think through is that community first mindset and really being like, how are you utilizing this as an opportunity to build long term, sustainable community for your people. I have something called the 4c that I like to teach on, yeah? First is catalyst, then it goes to communicate, then it comes to convert, then it goes to catapult. Okay, so let me break it down, yeah, catalyst is how do you like that spark? How do you share the spark? How are you getting people to know who you are? How are you drawing them in? This could be through social media. It could be through digital ads. It could be through, you know, a video. It could be through a peer to peer campaign, whatever it is. And that's why I like end of year fundraising season, yeah, because it's a great opportunity to introduce people to your mission, right? And get them in so many people think, Oh, well, I feel like they're in two camps. They're either like, I don't want to do something like giving Tuesday, because we never succeed, and everybody else succeeds, right? Or they're like, Well, I'm gonna do this, and if I don't raise a million dollars and we fail. And I'm like, both of those, why are we living in the extremes? You know what I'm saying? Why isn't this just an opportunity to open up the door to something more, right? Open up the door to what's coming next. Open up the door to all that life has in store. Come on somebody, right? So once you get that spark, which you and you get that catalyst, which this end of year season can be, then you communicate with them, right? That's when you go into the nurturing phase. And I would say that if you haven't started doing this now, start now, right? Because here's the thing, you are building a relationship. Yep, I always say people are your partners, not your piggy banks. So if you're treating them as a piggy bank, and when that well runs dry, let me tell you, obviously now those those things, if you are breaking those piggy banks open, shout out, trying to get the quarters out, that's what you're doing. And you're stressed because you've already went to all those wells over and over and over again. They're like, you don't even know my name, like when I tell you, I keep getting emails of, Hey, friend for I'm a recurring giver to your organs. I am more than your friend. Call me by my name. That's right. Call me by my name. You know what I'm saying. So this is where you actually start to communicate with them and nurture them. And actually say, hey, I want to get I want to ask you for things, but more than money. I want to ask you to get involved. I want to ask you to participate. I want to ask you what brought you here in the first place. I want to know who you are, and that's why I believe I've been so successful in fundraising and in community building, because I care about who you are. You know what I mean? Like, Christina I would do tell me when to go. You know what I'm saying? Like, whatever you need. I'm ready to go. You know? Because I care about you. You know what I mean, and that's what we need. So many people are stressed out because they're caring about reaching their quotas. They're caring about making sure that they hit their goals, or making sure that the doors are saying and it's coming from a good place. But that also leads you to burnout, because you're consistently running a race, you know what I'm saying, and when you're walking with people, journeying with people, that's when you can go for the long haul. That's when you have longevity, you know what I'm saying. So that's where the communicate comes in. Then you convert them. So this is after you've done all those other things, you've made a catalyst, you've got their interest, right? You've communicated with them, You've nurtured them. Then you go to convert that's when you're asking for the donation. That's when you're saying, Can you be a fundraiser? That's when you're saying, Can you lead XYZ initiative or open up this door, right? And then the last step is catapult, and catapult is the highest level of Come on, somebody, because catapult now is no longer about me. It's about we right? It's your your donor is saying, I want to lead an initiative on my own. I want to open up this door. I want to become a board member. I want to go and bring my company to become a large corporate sponsor for you, right? Traditional news management, in my opinion, is dead in this industry, because it's all about getting a higher donation. And I don't want you to focus on a higher donation. I want you to focus on getting your people to be a higher version of themselves, right? Because if they are a higher version of themselves, and they are more invested at you at a higher level, that. That's what's gonna lead you to the next level. You know what I'm saying? I always say you're not just fighting for a donation. If a donation is all that you want, then a donation is all that you are going to get. But you are not fighting for donors. You are working for believers, because believers in your organization gonna take you to your breakthrough.
Christina Edwards 15:15
Can we make the shift? Everyone? Not donors? Believers. Come on, somebody that changes the emails you write, that changes the phone calls you write, the texts you send, right? I'm believing in them. It's reciprocal and not transactional. Come on,
Floyd Jones 15:29
and you also care about their growth, right? Like I remember when I was a frontline fundraiser for an organization where we worked to provide free sports for kids, and a majority of the people who are donors also engaged in sports. They love sports. They love athletics. So I remember when we started a endurance fundraising program, and we were signing up for the New York City Marathon, and we were getting them involved in all these different things. Is because they, a group of people, actually wanted to do that, and that became one of our highest revenue streams. It was bringing in over six figures each time, you know what I mean, because they wanted to do it, right? We also planned tournaments for people who wanted to play sports socially, right? We planned events for people who wanted to come together. I had a junior board in every single city because they young people wanted to create events. They wanted to do things. You know what I mean. So you're not just doing it for me, you're doing it for we because now you're a community, right? And you have to continue to grow together, right?
Christina Edwards 16:25
So, good. Okay, a couple of things we're gonna drill into. One is this idea, and I've had so many EDS say, basically, I feel like I'm begging them. I feel like I'm just reaching for their wallet and like that feels terrible. And this idea that you're presenting here reminds me of like an ER doctor versus almost like a naturopath. So an ER doctor is like, urgent stop the bleeding, right? And that's how we're fundraising, versus what you're talking about, which is that we concept, which is going upstream on the health, upstream on the wellness of the Orna stream, upstream on just the overall like client transaction and getting it from transactional Right, right?
Floyd Jones 17:10
I remember two years ago now, I think, or a year and a half ago, I actually tore my meniscus and dislocated my knee. Come on, help me somebody. Oh, and I had to get surgery out, right? I was, first of all, I was at Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe, you gonna just, I'm gonna You always hear my mind. Now, supposed to be nice. It was very nice. And then they said, Let's go on a hike. And then I said, I knew I didn't love this whole I like the concepts.
Christina Edwards 17:38
I was just talking to somebody about, I'm good for the view, right?
Floyd Jones 17:41
I like a good view there. I love a good Instagram click. Let me tell you, you gonna see me on
Christina Edwards 17:45
you should have known to stay at the clubhouse. Listen,
Floyd Jones 17:47
or the boat. We did a boat ride. We could have kept it there, sit on the I could have kept it there. But then they said, no less high. Let's go to the highest elevation. Let me tell you, well, they were carrying me down that elevation afterwards. Okay, but anyway, that's a separate conversation. Anyway, when I got back to the city, the day after I got to New York City, I went to my surgeon, and he was like, I need to operate on you right right away. So I went to my surgeon on Friday, on Monday morning I was in surgery. Wow. Because he was like, this is one of the worst meniscus tears that I've ever seen. He said, this seems like more than a hike. And I was like, oh my god, hello, 30. Like I came to walk. Okay, help somebody. But anyway, so went into surgery, and he fixed the problem. Yeah, right. But my mom, my mother in law, my wife, everybody was helping me afterwards, and they were caring for my heart. Yep, you know what I'm saying. They were they really restored me, they replenished me, they got me back to where I was supposed to be. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. And so when you're thinking about your fundraising, are you just facing a problem? Yeah, are you just saying we have to pay the bills? Are you just saying we have to go in and run out and do XYZ thing right away? Are you saying, No, I want to make sure that you come back better than who you were before you come back, and you're at full spring, you come back and you're fully invested, right? That's what I want you to focus on this year, when you're when you're doing your fundraising, when you're building your community. Because again, yes, we're talking about fundraising, but you're really talking about people being involved and invested in who you are, your mission, and what you're trying to do for the long term. And you have to treat them as such,
Christina Edwards 19:22
okay, this is perfect. So we're gonna dig into community engagement. And I have this love hate relationship with the word community, because I feel like it's been thrown around, like the word impact in our sector, and it's like, yeah, we're creating community. And it's like, but are you right? And so what does a community mean? How do we know if we're engaging a community? I think we all kind of collectively know the power of it, like we know why we want that. But what? Yeah, so good.
Floyd Jones 19:54
I always say a community has to be mutually aligned. Yeah. Yeah. So you're working towards a similar goal, yeah. It has to be rooted in transformation. So it can't just be stuck. You have to go from point A to point B, and you're doing it collectively. Yeah, right? It also has to be mutually beneficial. It can't just be a one way street, because that's of course, you know what I'm saying? You can easily go to a class and whatnot, right? But it has to be mutually beneficial. That means I have to be learning from the person next to me. They need to be learning from me. And it has to be a safe space, right? You have to facilitate a space for transformation to take place. That's why people are like, Oh, can you help me with my fundraising? I'm like, No, I can't help you with building a long term community, because it has to all come together, right? Fundraising is a part of it, but if you're only thinking it in terms of dollar and cents, that's why you're stuck at the level that you're stuck at. Okay, what
Christina Edwards 20:46
do you say to the person that goes cool and I need dollars and cents
Floyd Jones 20:51
and but what did I say at the beginning? Relationships first, revenue second, right? People first, and then the profit will come, community first in the currency will come, right? And that's why you have a plan for all those different things, right? When I talked about that forces at the beginning, I was saying, okay, hey, now that I know this person went to this event. Okay, great, maybe instead of you just going to the event, maybe you can now invite people to my event next time. And now that you invited people to my event, do you want to be a table captain at this event? Do you want to help plan this event next time? Oh, maybe you want to help me find sponsors at this event, right? Because, guess what? Now, it's not just about buying me a ticket. I have a great story, and you've ever been to one of my talks, I love this story because it was so impactful. There's an or a person who I recruited to be on our board for an organization that I worked with and my give get fee requirement was $5,000 and I was like, Craig. His name is Craig. I won't say his last name when he want to be public. But anyway, Craig is amazing. And he was, he was like, You know what? I want to run our own soccer tournament. And I was like, can you just give me the $5,000 like, that's a little bit easier, sure, because now I gotta get per bits, it's
Christina Edwards 22:03
gonna be hot chocolate melts.
Floyd Jones 22:06
Okay, there's a lot going on here. There's a lot going on. And he was just like, No, but you gotta trust me, you gotta believe it, like, we are gonna get this tournament. It's gonna be amazing. I was like, Okay, fine. Craig, that year, Craig ended up getting all his coworkers involved. He got his company involved. They ended up raising over $10,000 from that tournament, right? And then they came back again the next there it is. I was like, I know this retention day. Came back the next year because they were engaged. And not only did they come back and run a tournament that raised over $20,000 that year, but then the next year, they got volunteers from their company, and the company now they had, now they started a corporate volunteer program, yeah, and they came back another year, right? And then now the company wanted to match the gifts, and they're getting, they're running press on this, because now it's CSR, right? Imagine if I only asked for that $5,000 you're
Christina Edwards 22:57
like, No, we can't do that.
Floyd Jones 22:59
Imagine if I that's, that's the dollars and cents mindset, right? But when you're thinking Community First, you're saying, okay, hey, Craig is passionate about this. Craig is tying this into our mission, and he's making it real for him and those around him. That's how you get to longevity. That's a community first approach. I
Christina Edwards 23:15
love that. There. I tell so many of my clients and listeners this idea of meeting people where they are, okay, meeting people where they are. So in this case, Craig's preferred platform was a soccer tournament, right? And sometimes somebody's preferred platform isn't Instagram. You want them to post on Instagram. And there's an organization that I've worked for for many years, and they have this amazing volunteer fundraiser, peer advocate, who is retired, who this is how he fund raises for the organization. This is his soccer tournament that he does every year. He writes a couple, three quarterly updates, hey, via email. This is what the organization is doing. He has his own tone, which is Kurt, kind of sassy. He's like, kind of grumpy and retired. I love it. And he even puts in his emails, I'm not asking you for money yet, like he primes his own audience and his he sends it to the group of former coworkers, because he's retired every year, and then he has his ask towards the year end, and every year he brings in hundreds of 1000s of dollars. Now, if the ED or comms person had said, we need you to post on Instagram, right? He would have been like, I don't, I don't want to do that. I'm literally don't have one. I'm not interested, right? Or had they said, and I think this is where we get in the weeds. A little bit is use this template. Come on, say these words. He has to say it in his tone, which is perfect, and it's grumpy, but like, it's like the good grump, like Grumpy Cat grumpy, you know? And so it's like, it's perfect. And
Floyd Jones 24:55
there's nothing wrong with giving a template if someone doesn't have an idea. But one thing when. I always do whenever I'm making a template, I'm like, I put in brackets, insert your story here. Yes, you know what I'm saying. Like, whatever you want to put. Here's what you could put, but here's where you can add your own flair, your own thing, you know I mean, and
Christina Edwards 25:11
when you had sort of your full court press launch for your campaign, tell us about that, because you did reach out to people, and you said, Hey guys, tomorrow's the launch for Oh, for back. I was so listen, my influencer heart was like, I was so happy that you were mobilizing your friends, your community, to say, tomorrow's launch day. Let's go.
Floyd Jones 25:38
Y'all, I am I? Every time I think about what has happened with back black, I just get so in awe, because back black started as like a vision, like I am. I've been in the fundraising game for a long time, and I have worked with nonprofits for a long time, and I always kept seeing why are the black led organizations always left behind. And when I was a frontline fundraiser, I was like, why is it so hard to get these meetings I'm seeing like I deserve to be in these rooms. I know the power of what we're doing, but why are the doors always closed for me? Why are the doors and so I stopped asking that question, and I started building my own doors. I was like, I'm not doing this anymore, yeah, because I know my community needs this. I know my people need this, so I'm gonna work for it, you know? Yeah. And so I, a couple years ago, I was invited to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It has been called the Greater Giving Summit, and we were all I was with a bunch of other influencers and other decision makers at platforms and companies, and everyone was talking about, we need equity, and we need to, you know, we need to make sure what we're doing is more equitable. And I just like, Well, why don't, why aren't we putting our money where our mouth is? Yeah, like, why don't we just actually do? I don't want to talk about it. I want to be about it. Because, guess what? At the end of the day you all get to leave. Y'all gonna be on your planes, you're gonna go into your environments, and everything is going to be business as usual. And I was like, but there are people who are still hurting, yeah, you know what I'm saying? If you look at the stat, it's, it's astonishing, right? Like, black led organizations only receive one to 2% of global funding in 2024 not, like, it's not, I don't, it doesn't make any sense, you know? And so I was like, Okay, how do I take all of these years of knowledge. How do I take all these years of passion? I'm a speaker. I do content creation, I do all these different things. Well, what did I say before? Use what's in your hand. Use what's in your hand. And guess what we did? And that first year, we raised $1.2 million for 770 nonprofits. And then this year, we took it to the next level. And I was like, Okay, how do we how do we continue going? How do we get more platforms involved? But then I was like, how do we make a real social push, right? And so that's when I reached out to you. I reached out to everyone in my network. I mean, we had the first this year. We started something called the back black directory, where we actually are verifying black LED nonprofits. We're partnered with GivingTuesday, and are partnered with a bunch of other different platforms. And so I wanted to be able to show them and actually say, hey, here is a list of verified black led organizations, because it's hard to solve a problem when you don't know who you're helping, right? And so I was like, Okay, we gotta figure this out. In our first four days of the campaign, we had like, over 600 nonprofits like sign up. And I was like, Oh my God. Like, what is happening y'all? We had over 10,000 like, unique visits to our website. We had just, like, our posts on LinkedIn went viral, like, just all of this amazing stuff. And I was like, and it was all organic. Oh, we didn't pay for any ads. We didn't pay for any PR. We didn't pay for it was all organic. And I was like, this is the power of community. That's
Christina Edwards 28:44
it. You power of community. You have to ask, and sometimes you have to ask again, and sometimes you need a little nudge, a little reminder. And we, we want, we want to see people succeed. We want to see other people in our life succeed. And so, and we
Floyd Jones 28:58
were able to raise over $100,000 for the back black impact funds. We actually have funds that we grant away and we give away. We got platforms to give away funding like it was just so incredibly powerful, and we're just getting started. Yeah,
Christina Edwards 29:11
I I can't count how many conversations I've been on where it's some flavor of a founder black, led profit, and the founder says to me some we're talking about how much they've raised, and if they have any major donors, and they're like, no, no, I have zero. And I'm like, Do you have anyone that gives at the $500 I'm going down, you know, I'm like, 500 or higher, right? Anyone at the 1000? Maybe a few at 500 and then that's it. And they're like, I, where am I gonna meet those people? Christina,
Floyd Jones 29:44
come on somebody. Come on somebody. How do you these are the people doing the work
Christina Edwards 29:48
every single day to make their community better, exactly? And, yeah, it pisses me off. And so this is a beautiful way,
Floyd Jones 29:55
and that's why I always say, like our job is to, you know, help build. Direct Capital, but we also want to enhance capacity, so we're going to teach you, and we're going to build awareness. So that's why I'm going hard on the brand. I'm going hard on PR, I'm going hard on the social because I'm like, we want to actually raise the profile so that more people will see you as well. You know what I mean? 100% I was like, if my grandma always says that the door opens for you, you better keep that door open for somebody else. You know what I'm saying, and it's true. I mean, in only a matter of few weeks, we raise more money for our operating budget than organizations will probably ever see. You know what I'm saying? I love that.
Christina Edwards 30:29
And it's like these two things are true. It's sort of the holding two things at the same time. So I just want everyone to hear that you raised more. And how long did you say? What period in
Floyd Jones 30:41
four weeks? Yeah, for our just our general operating budget. I mean, we raise, we have our separate Impact Fund and all the different stuff, but our operating budget was more than some organization will ever see.
Christina Edwards 30:51
So how? So this idea of giving us down, it's a bad time. Oh, Christina, that's the economy, inflation, and I hold in the other hand this I hold in the other hand so many of my clients, so many of of the organizations in the club who are like, we're up. We're up. One one organization said to me yesterday on a call, she's like, she hosts this summit, and she's like, we haven't even started, and we already beat last year, see? And I'm like, of course,
Floyd Jones 31:22
because momentum is everything, right? People want to be a part of something. You can't underestimate that. People want to be a part of something momentum. People love movement. You know what I'm saying. So you got to give them something to get involved in. You got to give them something to be a part of. You know what I mean? Do? They will get involved. They will get involved. Okay, so
Christina Edwards 31:46
if an org is listening and they're like, I hear you. Mm, hmm, this sounds good. I'm interested. I think sometimes we we go to the 10 year version of this,
Floyd Jones 31:56
you know what I mean? Yes, I do, yeah,
Christina Edwards 32:00
where there's a department to help you do all the things, but for now, the version that you do for giving Tuesday, the version that the organization does for a year end, to create that community, to mobilize their supporters, what does that look like?
Floyd Jones 32:15
Ooh, that was so good, because I need that reminder for myself, because I easily get myself stressed out because I'm always like, looking I do have a big vision, like, I believe, and I see a changed world, yeah? And I know my role in it, you know what I mean? And I that brings the fire, like, That's what gets me up in the morning, right? But it's hard when you have that vision and you're on the mountain top, and then you have to come back to reality and be like, okay, but this, don't look like that. You know
Christina Edwards 32:42
what I mean. And don't be mad at it. Don't be
Floyd Jones 32:46
gratitude. You know what I'm saying. It starts with gratitude, also, like you're asking for I want more. Okay, so have you been grateful for the donors that you do have? That's right, have you acknowledged the donors that you do have? Are you happy with the impact that you do have, that you are making. You know what I'm saying, and then allow yourself to just take the next step. Yeah, no one's asking you to be the best. We're asking to be your best. We're not asking you to just finish the race tomorrow. Just take the next step. And the next step is okay,
Christina Edwards 33:18
there's this quote from Lynn twist, what you appreciate, appreciate, come
Floyd Jones 33:22
on, somebody, oh, come on. It's good, right? It's the truth, yeah? And
Christina Edwards 33:26
it's like, when you're in those moments of not enoughness, but I'm not there, it's taking so long.
Floyd Jones 33:33
You're also calling that in, yeah? When you keep saying it's taking forever, it's not happening, you're literally telling the universe. You're saying out of your mouth that what you have is not enough, yeah. And how can you receive more? If your doors are closed, how can you receive more if your heart is closed? I truly believe that life wants to give you everything. Yeah, it wants to give you all that you're meant for. You know what I mean. But if you're closing yourself off, if you're shutting yourself down, if you're not acknowledging what you already have, you're not creating open paths for more to come in
Christina Edwards 34:05
100% you know, yes. So as we move into this version of the now, version of, what can you execute? I would say MVP, minimum viable product. So maybe you're not mobilizing a community of 1000s, right? Yet, maybe you're calling five people, boom today, boom and asking them, and
Floyd Jones 34:28
you're setting realistic goals, right? One thing that I always did when I was creating campaigns was I didn't always set financial goals. I also set participation goals. I said this year, how many fundraisers can I get? How many people will sign up to become a fundraiser? I know that I can get more people involved in that level. We're already golden. You know what I'm saying? Because also a one time donation is good, but there are just so many other pathways of engagement, right? Become a fundraiser, become a recurring giver, become a long term. In tier. You know what I mean. So maybe you can't donate. Can you help make calls on behalf of our organization to potential donors? Can you help write emails on our behalf to other potential donors? You know what I mean? Like, there is always a way to get involved. Don't think small, because if you think small, you're gonna live small. And if you live small, then you will always be small. And I ain't got time for small. That's right,
Christina Edwards 35:21
everybody hear that we don't time. So a couple things. Just one more
Floyd Jones 35:27
note on that, yeah, just say, go, go. It's not just about being small. It's your mission. Needs you to be big. Yeah, your people need you to and I'm not talking about revenue size. I'm talking about you need to have a big belief. You need to have big Audacity. You need a big have big hope. You need to have big wishes and big promise, right? Those are the things that are going to take you to the next level and going to help you accomplish what you're you're created to accomplish. That's
Christina Edwards 35:52
such a great point, because if you think about buying anything, a course, a product, a service, I don't know why a massage just came to
Floyd Jones 36:02
mind. Come on, someone, because I need one, right? You were calling that in.
Christina Edwards 36:05
I do not want to pay $200 for a massage from somebody who's like, I'm pretty good.
Floyd Jones 36:10
Oh Lord.
Christina Edwards 36:11
I want the person who's like, you've never had a massage like this, right? Who their belief is so strong that I'm like, is it I'll pay $300 like, what do you is my life gonna change?
Floyd Jones 36:21
Right? You want the best and you want people who are invested. That's
Christina Edwards 36:26
what, who love it. They're like, this is my art. This is what the work I'm meant to do that pulls people in, and then what happens after that crazy, expensive massage? I'm gonna tell five people about in and I'm
Floyd Jones 36:36
gonna come back, keep Thursdays at three. Yeah, I'll be there.
Christina Edwards 36:39
Yeah, exactly, exactly. So, all right, so the organization is thinking, all right, I hear you. We start with we start small. Some of the things that you just outlined where you're saying call, you know, text, email, it requires just a boldness and a willingness for anything to happen, right? Do you know what I mean? Of like, well, Floyd, I don't. I'm nervous about calling some people today. Or, I don't know what if they what if they say, what if they say I'm bugging them? Or what if they what if they say no? What
Floyd Jones 37:11
if they say no? Yeah, no. Doesn't mean NEVER, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And also, you can't be so attached to the outcome, okay, say more, because so many times we're like, if we don't hit our goal, then we failed. Okay, if you didn't raise $20,000 but you raised $10,000 is that not important?
Christina Edwards 37:28
Let me tell you a story. She's gonna feel called out, but she had a goal, special, special organization in the club to launch a monthly giving program. I think her goal was 100 new donors, recurring, 100 new recurring. And
Floyd Jones 37:42
what was she at before
Christina Edwards 37:45
four? Oh, god. Okay, so she big goals. We love it. So she comes to the call and she says she's low. She's like, we're at 56 and I was like, what? Like, that's
Floyd Jones 37:58
incredible. I
Christina Edwards 37:59
was like, on the floor, confetti. I was like, full stop. You know, we have the data. We know the lifetime. I mean, there's so much juiciness there. But I would say the thing that also kind of messed with her a little bit is the monthly revenue coming in wasn't that big, because they were, they were low. It was like a 56, $5 donor, sure, sure, sure. Yeah. I think there were higher ones up to 100 maybe 50. But I was like, You better stop. You
Floyd Jones 38:26
better stop. Because guess what? Each one of those are 56 new opportunities that
Christina Edwards 38:30
raise their hand to both hands saying, I'm in I care about the work you're doing. We had another organization on that same call, 20 plus years old, almost a million dollar plus organization, much you know, the other one was much smaller in revenue, and they're like, We have 13 donors, like, recurring, you know what? I mean? They're like, you absolutely lapped us and then some. And they did this as an email only campaign in seven days. And I was like, stop it, wow. You have to figure out here. Like, so how do I want to talk to myself through this, though, because the top the headline of that story was, we failed. What would you say to that?
Floyd Jones 39:07
I would say, what is that? No, no,
Christina Edwards 39:11
knock it off. I'd
Floyd Jones 39:12
be like, stop it. Yeah. But also, it's all about, you know what? I remember, there's this thing called the behavior chain, right? So you have a thought, yeah, oh yeah. That leads to a belief, that leads to an action, that leads to a response. That's what I'm saying. And it's like, okay, hey, they thought that they failed. Now they believe that they're a failure, and they're gonna act as if they're a failure, because if they get to 56 they're not gonna do anything else. Stop sending me emails exactly, and don't post on social that you don't grow and you just stay in that place and
Christina Edwards 39:41
don't run the campaign in three months, which you're supposed to do, right? Because we want to run this a couple times a year and get 56 nude owners, and then hit your goal Exactly. And so it's like, yeah, I'm glad you brought in. And life
Floyd Jones 39:53
doesn't work like that. Like very rarely do you just start and hit your goal right away. You know what I mean? I mean, we've been in this game. I. How long have we been doing this thing? Listen, a long time. People are like, Oh, you're speaking at all this. I'm like, my first speech was when I was, like, 13 years old, so don't play okay, you know what I'm saying. So it's just like we've been doing this for a long time, and now we're reaping the benefit. Think about a seed. Think about a plant. You plant that seed and you got to give it water, you got to give it light, you got to give it attention, to love. You got to till that soil, and then eventually it's going to come out the ground, but it's not going to happen in one second. It's not going to happen in one day. And chances are, if it does happen that quickly, it's not going to last that long. You know what I'm saying? And you want a tree that's going to last, you want a tree that's going to bear fruit, you want a tree that's gonna have shade and cover other people, right?
Christina Edwards 40:43
We love it. And plant more than one seed, and plant more than one seed, don't stand there and stare at it and watch it grow.
Floyd Jones 40:50
What'd that say when you watch boiled water doesn't boil, pot doesn't boil. Yeah, no, don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do something else. All
Christina Edwards 41:00
right, let's move into, we've kind of talked a bit about it, but this idea of collaboration and partnerships, so we talked about it on the individual level. How else can we collaborate and partner? As we move into your end is this with businesses, sponsors, like, what comes all of the above? D even we're if we are small,
Floyd Jones 41:18
oh yeah, even, especially if you're small. But because how many mom and pop shops are there in your community? I mean, when I got our partnership, when we got our partnership with NBA 2k i love this example, with the organization I was working with. I mean, we provided free sports for kids, and our mission was to make it accessible to everyone, yeah, but we were a small organization. We our budget was like, less than $150,000 but we had, we were online. Let me tell you one thing about me. I'ma be online. Okay, I'ma be on somebody's social media. Okay, I'm gonna be you're gonna find me there. Yeah. And so we were online. We had good SEO. And guess what? This national organization was like, we want to build basketball courts. We want to actually go from off the line, off online, to in real life, and help people actually put, you know, this into practice. And then NBA, two kids like the number one game in the world, right? Yeah. And so they found us, and I was like, okay, not only do I want you to build these courts, but I want you to also fund the program, so now we can actually have programs, programming and free basketball on these courts, because we'll just build the courts and having me drive do better, and they did, you know what I'm saying, and so we now have programming going, and there's programming happening on those courts to this day. You know what I'm saying. And that's like, think about that. Like I always say, you have a power that other people do not have. We connected to the community that this big corporation couldn't connect with them. We also hosted a tournament that when they were unveiling the court, and brought the community together in a powerful way. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, like, that is what it's all about.
Christina Edwards 42:51
And you didn't do this because you had the perfect pitch deck, right? When I tell you or website, it
Floyd Jones 42:58
was on me and me, this was like precursor of Canva. So I was just put the, you click this, and you put it over here, and you better go to Google Slides and hit print, what?
Christina Edwards 43:09
MVP version? MVP? That's right, it'll make you a lot of money. It'll make you a lot of connections. People
Floyd Jones 43:14
don't care. People care about what you're trying to do. I mean, don't, don't look at make it look crazy. But if you i overseen sponsorships before. Okay? I've overseen multiple, six, multiple hundreds of 1000s of dollars in sponsorship funding. I didn't care if your deck was beautiful and all that. I cared about the impact. You know what I mean, I cared about, is this gonna help advance you and advance what we're trying to do?
Christina Edwards 43:36
Yeah, you've probably been on the receiving end of quite a few. So too many. Yeah, so what stands out as good?
Floyd Jones 43:43
Oh, my God, don't give me a 12 page deck. I always tell people this. I'm like, stop. I just can't read this. I can chat to skimmer. I'm a skimmer. I'm very much a skimmer. So, and then people like to put like, oh, and then we have 80 emails, and we have and I'm just like, I just, it's it's just not like That's why I always say, find out what's important. There you go to the company. You know what? I mean, they're not doing it for the change the logo. They're not doing it for the logo, because I'm sure they can reach more people than you can reach in that regard, in terms of brand
Christina Edwards 44:13
visibility. This is a an aligned collaboration, 100% partnership, 100%
Floyd Jones 44:18
Yeah, 100 I tell so many organizations. I mean, I was just working with an organization. They they do tennis, they do tennis. And I was like, they were like, well, what kind of companies can we get? And I was like, wait, I just Googled their their city, and I typed in tennis, and there was, like, 20 tennis courts in their, like, general vicinity. And I was like, Have you been to all of these like, I'm sure all of these people do some kind of grant program in their community. They all have people who go there. All those people are potential donors. Maybe you can have a tournament, and you do a battle of the courts, and now you're bringing all the courts together, and you're doing a tournament, and all that money's gonna raise money for your mission. And now you can get those people to come volunteer. I'm like, just, just think, just think, just thing you know, and ask what they want. What do you want? It's aligned for you. I mean, back, black is filled and fueled by corporate partners. We have over 30 corporate partners in in our in our campaign, right? But it's all because I wanted to figure out, okay, why is giving Tuesday so successful? Because the whole industry is involved. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, Okay, if we could there are, I was on one Facebook group with that was, like, with black LED nonprofits, and there was, like, 30,000 black LED nonprofits in that Facebook group. And I was just like, we're missing it. We're missing if we don't, we need to. That's why I'm thinking big. I'm like, we're gonna build the biggest community of black changemakers in the world, because that we wanna be so big that you can't miss us. When
Christina Edwards 45:38
you say we're missing it, you mean we're missing the support, we're missing the exposure, we're missing the all of
Floyd Jones 45:43
it, all of it. But then I'm saying it's like, we're missing the power of our collective action.
Christina Edwards 45:47
There it is. You know, I'm
Floyd Jones 45:48
saying companies can grow and scale because they can actually point to their numbers, and they're like, We did XYZ thing. So what are you doing? Point to your numbers. And guess what? This is where I want nonprofits to partner together. Yeah, right. I'm always saying you, you're doing similar work. You're doing similar Okay, why don't we have the nonprofit sports coalition or something you and I'm saying because, guess what, if you now collectively reach 15, 20,000 people, you can approach a brand and say, okay, hey, you will now have exposure to all of these people and split the money three ways. But we don't want to talk about that. We don't want to talk about splitting checks. But you ain't you gonna split the check at your restaurant? Right?
46:23
Yes,
Floyd Jones 46:24
don't get me started.
Christina Edwards 46:27
He's feeling hot. So you've come up with quite a few creative outside the box ideas, which is a good reminder and but they're simple. Do you know what I mean? Like, I could, I'm like, I'm seeing all of these ideas. And it's a really good reminder of just like, what's in alignment, what makes sense, what furthers your mission? Forward and stop telling yourself you can't I always
Floyd Jones 46:46
say alignment determines your assignment. Alignment determines your assignment, meaning don't copy and paste what somebody else does do, what makes sense for your organization. I don't usually have a one side, I guess I have pillars and themes and whatnot. But at the end of the day, it has to make sense for your or your organization, your context. You know what I'm saying? That's
Christina Edwards 47:05
a great reminder. I mean, every single nonprofit listening has another nonprofit in their niche, with their community or whatever. I promise you, you're not
Floyd Jones 47:13
the only one who gives pencils. You're You're not the only one who does a back to school drive. That's it. You're just not. You're
Christina Edwards 47:19
not the only pet rescue. You're not only elderly pet rescue, and that's okay, and that's okay, but what makes you different, it's also
Floyd Jones 47:27
what makes you unique to your people. That's right, what makes you unique to you because everybody has a community that's like telling Adidas they can't sell shoes because Nike's selling shoes like it's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous, but Adidas is gonna do what's best for Adidas. That's right, you know I'm saying, but
Christina Edwards 47:42
don't copy Nike. You know what I mean, right? And so like, find your so you can find your people. Find
Floyd Jones 47:47
your people. Find your because your people are there. There are billions of people on this planet. If you can't find your people, you're not looking.
Christina Edwards 47:53
Oh my god. Keep talking. Keep talking. Get your magnifying
Floyd Jones 47:57
glass and you better search.
Christina Edwards 48:00
Oh my gosh. All right, before we wrap up, I've loved this conversation. Any other calls to action for nonprofits as we they make it through your end it's January, how they feel and how they could feel it in January, you think tired
Floyd Jones 48:14
if you're like me, I'm like I needed to be I need to go in. I need a couple more weeks off. You need
Christina Edwards 48:19
that $300 massage period.
Floyd Jones 48:22
And that's why I want, man, I want your end to not feel so banal. I want it to not feel so exhausting. I want it to be fun again, like I used to have so much fun thinking about my campaigns at the end of the year. I was like, let's get this going, because you guys got the energy. You know what I mean? Make make end of year fun again.
Christina Edwards 48:39
Let me ask you this on your end, you know, it's like 30% of giving happens in the last few months a year, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, like it really is prime time. It is such an important time. And I wonder, is it a chicken or the egg? Is it because that's when we actually work, we're really the most vocal. Is that because that's when donors get the appeals in the letter, that's, you know, in the mail, and that's because that's when we really do a terrific job asking, right,
Floyd Jones 49:04
right, right, right. I mean, I think people are naturally in the giving mood at the end of year, because it's like, gifts and all that different stuff. Yeah. I mean, when I think, personally, that's when I give all my gifts and all that different stuff. So I think people are already in the mood, but I also think it's so indoctrinated now. What I mean, just like, so entrenched that this is the time, yeah, and so people build around it. And I'm like, this is not the time for you to try to change macroeconomics. This is not the time for you to try to change, you know, people's minds and say, No, we're gonna we're anti I'm like, if you don't want to be involved, like, that's fine, yeah, it's happening. You know what I mean? I mean? I always say it's happening, so why not be a part of it and at least get something? You know what I mean, totally, totally,
Christina Edwards 49:46
which is why you're not sitting Giving Tuesday out, if you're listening and you're not
Floyd Jones 49:50
doing it, and like money, it doesn't have to be get involved and give us money. It can easily be a you're giving something, yeah, on to on Tuesday, or you. Say it could be a thank you campaign. It could be get involved in a different way. You know what I mean, but get involved on
Christina Edwards 50:05
Valentine's Day. I told all my clients, just send a love letter to your people. That's, don't ask, I love just love on them. I
Floyd Jones 50:12
love that. Go great,
Christina Edwards 50:14
and it feels amazing. You know? Just feels good. Not every holiday has to be like, give me right money. All right? We ask every guest on the podcast want to share one thought, one affirmation, one mantra that has really helped you, that is a guide post. What would you share with our listeners? You've probably shared quite a few
Floyd Jones 50:37
today, right, right? Obviously, the first thing that comes up to me is, I'm allowed to be a beginner, as we mentioned, because I'm in a season of many new things, and I'm just like, giving myself grace and just being like, we're gonna go ahead and just one step at a time and just trust the process and like, Be okay with the mess. You're another mess. Just be okay with the fact that things are messy at times, you know, and also the power of belief, right? Believe in yourself, believe in what you're doing, believe in those around you. And I, my last one that I'll say is I am worthy of what I want. Ooh, that's good. I am worthy of what I want that's good.
Christina Edwards 51:21
Yeah. I mean, if you just repeated those three every morning, you'd have a good day. Believing in your people. They want to help. They want to help. Let them help. You have to ask them. Oh, another
Floyd Jones 51:32
good one that came up. Don't get me started. I have too many. I love this one. I'm not stuck unless I stop. Oh, that's so good. I'm not stuck. Unless I stop, I love it.
Christina Edwards 51:45
I'm like, There's one foot in front of the other one. We go to the other and you're gonna get there, and we go, oh, that didn't go how I thought it would go. One next step is the information. We go, it's information. It's data. Yeah. All right, so you've talked a little bit about what you're working on, but tell us a little bit more. How can people connect with you? What? What's what's Floyd working on?
Floyd Jones 52:03
I have so many things in the works that I can't wait but make sure you go to Floyd jones.co.co, and stay in the loop. Join my newsletter. We have some fun things for end of year coming up as well. We have a community that we're launching, just so many different things that I want to be able to go deep with you and help you build and again, turn your mission into reality, right? And have you build the right way. Have you built for longevity? So, yeah, go to Floyd jones.co, and then also stay in the loop with all things back black. That's right, man, we just given money out.
Christina Edwards 52:34
Okay, so if a black LED nonprofit is like, me, me, me, me, me, I need this. What's the next step they
Floyd Jones 52:38
can take? Go to backblackmovement.org, back black movement, or again, it's all on my website as okay, if you go to my if you go to Floyd jones.co, you'll also see
Christina Edwards 52:47
the link there anything else you want to add before we wrap up?
Floyd Jones 52:49
Remember, you're worthy. You're worthy, period.
Christina Edwards 52:53
Oh my gosh, Floyd. Thank you so much. This has been exactly I knew you'd bring the inspiration. People are going to dial this up and dial it up again when they need to get hyped. Do you know what I mean? I love it. That's the goal. Yes. Thank you.
Floyd Jones 53:04
Thank you.